UFC light heavyweight contender didn’t have a bad day at UFC Fight Night 28 in Brazil on Wednesday. He not only headlined the Fox Sports 1 card in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, but he defeated the man who headlined opposite him, Ryan Bader, by first-round TKO.
As good as that may be, the news only got better for the Pedro Rizzo and John Hackleman-trained fighter. He’s going to get a UFC light heavyweight title shot in his next fight.
“Yeah, it’s confirmed,” said Marshall Zelaznik, UFC Managing Director of International Development, at the post-fight press conference Wednesday night. “Dana [White]’s confirmed it. Joe [Silva]’s confirmed. Glover gets the next shot.”
Teixeira has gone 5-0 in the UFC since May of 2012. Along the way, he’s defeated Kyle Kingsbury, Fabio Maldonado, Quinton Jackson, James Te Huna and now Ryan Bader.
On Wednesday evening in the main event bout, Teixeira had two tense moments where the All-American wrestler in Bader stung him with quick, sharp rear-hand straight punches, but the Brazilian was able to persevere. Just as Bader had Teixeira seemingly hurt for the second time and against the fence, Teixeira responded with a two-punch combination that sent Bader crashing to the mat. A few more punches on the ground and it was enough for referee Herb Dean to stop it. The end officially came at 2:55 of the first frame. As a result, Teixeira moves to 22-2 in professional mixed martial arts.
The light heavyweight title next goes up for grabs on September 21st at UFC 165 as champion Jon Jones defends his title against top-contender Alexander Gustaffsson at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Teixeira is expected to face the winner of this bout.
For his part, the Brazilian believes he’s ready for the next step of his career.
“Yes, definitely,” Teixeira responded when asked if he was ready for a title shot. “I believe I need to focus my camp in a different manner. Ryan Bader is a very high-level opponent. He’s fought against a lot of top people in the division and I’m sure that I believe in my knockout power, and my submission power and my wrestling.”